Described as 'a bit of a national treasure' by The Times, Malorie Blackman's writing career spans over 50 books, including Pig Heart Boy, which became a BAFTA winning television programme, Hacker, Whizziwig and the award-winning Noughts and Crosses trilogy.
The Noughts and Crosses books are set in a politically turbulent country which echoes South Africa under apartheid - but in reverse. Black people make up the dominant ruling class, while their white counterparts are viewed as second class citizens.
So, no stranger to exploring racial prejudice, Malorie has turned her hand to editing Unheard Voices, a collection of writing about slavery. The anthology has been published to coincide with the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slavery Trade Act 1807, and includes contributions from writers ranging from Benjamin Zephaniah to Frederick Douglass.
We asked Malorie to answer a few questions about her experiences editing Unheard Voices, which as she explains, will certainly influence her future work.
Editing an anthology marks something of a departure for you; did it prove to be a very different experience to writing fiction?
It was a different experience but a very enjoyable one. My editors at Random House also helped to make the experience painless! We all sat down (over lunch at my place) and talked about what stories and poems to include in the anthology, with everyone pitching in their ideas and we also discussed the format of the book, the illustrations to include, whether or not to include a time line (we did, as everyone agreed it was a good idea) and so on.
The next step was to read all the suggestions and discuss the extracts from the stories that we might possibly use. It was a much more collaborative process than writing a book by yourself and I very much enjoyed that.
We also have new stories in the anthology and that was a question of contacting writers to ask if they'd be interested in submitting something for the anthology. We even ran a competition to try to find some 'new voices', which I'm thrilled to say we found, and they are also present in the book.
In the introduction to Unheard Voices you mention that you are descended from slaves in the West Indies. Do you feel a personal responsibility to educate children about the horrors of slavery now?
Yes, I'm descended from slaves but I'm also descended from free Africans before the time of slavery. I feel it's important for all children to realise that black history didn't just start with slavery.
Do I feel a personal responsibility? I feel all of us should feel a personal responsibility regarding this subject. We still have slavery nowadays, only it's called 'human trafficking'.
We really need to learn the lessons of the past, especially when it comes to subjects such as war, slavery, injustice and intolerance.Only then will we truly move forward.
Was there a particular story or poem that sparked this collection off and was there anything you wanted to include in the anthology but couldn't?
There were a couple of story extracts that I would've dearly loved to include but the story owners and/or their agents were demanding too much money for their use. That's why I'm not going to be more specific!
There wasn't a particular story or poem that sparked off the collection - it was more the subject matter and the anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery bill in this country.
You chose to close the collection with James Berry's stirring poem, In Our Year 1941 My Letter to You Mother Africa. In it he calls for education not to be denied to him because of his background and depicts the anger felt by his 17 year old self towards Africa and the subservient legacy he feels it has bred in its people.
In Noughts and Crosses you explore the anger felt by Callum, as his plans to further himself through education are thwarted because of his skin colour. Has this sense of anger motivated you as a writer?
A sense of anger certainly inspired me whilst I was writing the Noughts and Crosses trilogy. I really wanted to convey just how angry Callum became because of the prejudice he found throughout all aspects of his life but in the educational sector in particular.
'Callum's anger at being pre-judged because of his colour, certainly reflected the anger I felt when I was his age over the same issue.'
I firmly believe that children rise to your expectations. If you expect nothing, that's precisely what you get. Callum's anger at being pre-judged because of his colour, certainly reflected the anger I felt when I was his age over the same issue.
But I do feel that anger, when channelled to be constructive rather than destructive, can be a great motivating force. A sense of anger has inspired a great many writers, artists, song-writers, etc.
The ending of your short story, North, is deeply shocking and depicts the huge difficulties slaves faced in fleeing their oppressors. Did you deliberately want to remind readers that there were very few happy endings for slaves?
With my short story, North, I wanted to explore the idea of freedom and what it really means. I wanted the reader to understand just how far the mother in the story was prepared to go to ensure that her daughter wouldn't have to live her life as a slave.
Each generation has to hope and believe that things will get better for their children. Sometimes, we have to acknowledge that the sacrifices we make won't benefit us but hopefully will benefit our children. In my story, the mum makes the greatest sacrifice of all.
For me, remembering slavery and the millions who lived and died under those conditions, is the same principle as holding a two minutes silence on Remembrance Day each November to remember all those who fought and those who died in recent wars, so that the rest of us in this country could enjoy the freedoms we have now.
What are you working on at the moment and will any of the work you have discovered through editing Unheard Voices influence your future writing?
I've just finished a book called The Stuff of Nightmares which will be out in September 2007 and I'm about to start on my next book which I hope will be out next year.
Everything I read, write, see, hear, taste, touch, smell and do affects and influences my future ideas and writing in both conscious and sub-conscious ways, so editing Unheard Voices will undoubtedly have an influence on what I write in the future. How? I haven't a clue! But I'm sure it will.
Your writing has brought you a huge number of teenage fans in the UK. Would you ever write an autobiography?
Hell, no! I love making up stories and seeing where my characters take me. I love to surprise myself when I'm writing.
I don't want to write about myself - I know that story already!
